Victoria was one of the nine district electoral areas (DEA) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from 1985 to 2014, when it was mostly replaced by the Ormiston district.Final Northern Ireland super council recommendations, BBC News, 13 December 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2014

Located in the east of the city, the district elected seven members to Belfast City Council and contained the wards of Ballyhackamore; Belmont; Cherryvalley; Island; Knock; Stormont; and Sydenham. Victoria, along with wards from the neighbouring Pottinger district and Castlereagh Borough Council, formed the Belfast East constituency for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament.

The district was bounded to the west by the Victoria Channel, to the north by Belfast Lough, to the northeast by North Down Borough Council, to the south and east by Castlereagh Borough Council and to the southwest by the Newtownards Road.

At each election throughout the district's existence, most of the councillors elected were Unionist.

History The DEA was created for the 1985 local elections local elections as the successor to the former Area B, which all seven wards in the new Victoria had been part of. An eighth ward, Bloomfield, which had been in Area B, was placed in the new Pottinger electoral area.

It was abolished to make way for new DEAs that were used for the 2014 local elections. It was largely replaced by the new Ormiston District Electoral Area. Five of Victoria's wards joined Ormiston, with the Sydenham ward and the areas which had been part of the abolished Island ward becoming part of the new Titanic District Electoral Area.Map from the District Electoral Areas Commissioner Maps page . See District Electoral Areas Commissioner page

Area

The district contained many key pieces of Belfast's transport infrastructure, including George Best Belfast City Airport and the eastern portion of Belfast Harbour. The area is served by the Bridge End and Sydenham railway stations and the A2 and A20 major road routes. The district is also home to Parliament Buildings, the meeting place of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Victoria was once the site of much of Belfast's heavy industrial manufacturing facilities, however these have suffered a significant decline since the mid-twentieth century, although companies such as Short Brothers and Harland and Wolff continue to have significant operations in the area.

Oil refinery The Sydenham oil refinery was opened by BP. Construction started in January 1962, and it was expected to open in late 1963. It would refine 1.3m tons per year, to cost £8m.Times Saturday January 6 1962 The jetty was built by Wimpey.

The main process units, with a hydrofiner, were built by Parsons Powergas, a joint venture of the Parsons Corporation and Power-Gas Corporation, of the UK. The steam raising plant was by Mitchell Engineering.Belfast Telegraph Friday 6 July 1962, page 4 It was opened in early February 1964,Belfast Telegraph Wednesday 5 February 1964, page 1 and officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on Thursday May 7 1964.Belfast Telegraph Wednesday 6 May 1964, page 1Belfast News-Letter Friday 8 May 1964, page 7Belfast News-Letter Thursday 17 March 1966, page 21 It was the smallest oil refinery in the UK, and closed in late 1982.Belfast Telegraph Monday 9 August 1982, page 1

Former BCDR mainline The Belfast and County Down Railway had a mainline through Knock railway station which linked Belfast direct to Downpatrick railway station as well as to Newcastle, County Down, there was also the branch from Comber railway station to Newtownards and Donaghadee. The mainline opened in 1850 was closed in 1950 by the Ulster Transport Authority.

Titanic Quarter

The Titanic Quarter is a major economic and cultural regeneration programme that is centred on Queen's Island and the former Harland and Wolff shipyard. The project has seen the construction of new hotels, apartment blocks and business facilities, with a number of high-profile relocations, including the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. The area has also become a centre for learning and research with the opening of the Catalyst Inc, in addition to Belfast Metropolitan College moving one of its key city centre campuses to the Quarter, while Queen's University Belfast have also located their Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) within the Science Park. The Quarter's name comes from the RMS Titanic which was constructed in the old shipyard, with a number of projects aimed at exploiting the tourism value of the Titanic's connection to Belfast, including the Samson and Goliath cranes used to construct the ship and the Paint Hall.

Other amenities

Other amenities in the Victoria district electoral area include: Ashfield Boys' High School Campbell College The Comber Greenway, a traffic-free section of the National Cycle Network, along the old Belfast-Comber railway line HMS Caroline Holywood Exchange, a major retail development Odyssey Arena, a major entertainment complex Our Lady and St. Patrick's College, Knock The Oval Stadium, home ground of Glentoran F.C. Stormont Estate Dundonald House Stormont Castle Stormont House Strandtown Primary School Strathearn School Wilgar Park, the home ground of Dundela F.C.

Wards

Map Ward Population (2011 Census) Catholic Protestant Other No Religion Area Density NI Assembly UK Parliament Ref 1 Ballyhackamore 5,939 17.2% 68.2% 1.9% 12.7% 1.15 km2 5,164 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East 2 Belmont 6,165 8.6% 80.6% 1% 9.8% 1.79 km2 3,444 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East 3 Cherryvalley 5,920 14.5% 75.3% 0.8% 9.4% 1.99 km2 2,975 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East 4 Island 5,014 13.9% 69.8% 4.6% 11.8% 3.81 km2 1,316 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East 5 Knock 4,827 9.1% 79.7% 1.2% 10% 1.12 km2 4,310 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East 6 Stormont 5,548 12.9% 75.6% 1.3% 10.2% 7.04 km2 788 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East 7 Sydenham 4,874 9.9% 76% 1.8% 12.3% 6.24 km2 781 /km2 Belfast East Belfast East Victoria 38,287 12.4% 75% 1.7% 10.8% 23.14 km2 1,655 /km2

Councillors

Election Councillor (Party) Councillor (Party) Councillor (Party) Councillor (Party) Councillor (Party) Councillor (Party) Councillor (Party) 2011 Mervyn Jones (Alliance) Laura McNamee (Alliance) Andrew Webb (Alliance) Jim Rodgers (UUP) Tom Haire (DUP) John Hussey (DUP) Robin Newton (DUP) 2005 Naomi Long (Alliance) Ian Adamson (UUP) David Rodway (DUP) Wallace Browne (DUP) 2001 David Alderdice (Alliance) Alan Crowe (UUP)/ (Independent Unionist) 1997 Danny Dow (Alliance) 1993 John Alderdice (Alliance) Tommy Patton (UUP) 1989 Alan Montgomery (UUP) 1985 Oliver Napier (Alliance) George Thompson (Alliance) William Corry (UUP) Dorothy Dunlop (UUP)

2011 election

2005: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance

2011: 3 x Alliance, 3 x DUP, 1 x UUP

2005-2011 Change: Alliance gain from UUP

2005 Election

2001: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance

2005: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance

2001-2005 Change: DUP gain from UUP

2001 Election

1997: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist

2001: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance

1997-2001 Change: Independent Unionist joins UUP

1997 Election

1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP

1997: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist

1993-1997 Change: Independent Unionist gain from UUP

1993 Election

1989: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP

1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP

1989-1993 Change: No change

1989 Election

1985: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP

1989: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP

1985-1989 Change: No change

1985 Election

1985: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance

See also Belfast City Council Electoral wards of Belfast Local government in Northern Ireland Members of Belfast City Council Belfast Victoria (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency) Belfast Victoria (UK Parliament constituency)

References